


Travelin' Soldier

by beyondcygnus



Category: Legends of Zelda - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: LoZ Four Swords, Shadvio, Songfic, Vidow, legends of zelda 4s
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-03 21:17:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16333628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyondcygnus/pseuds/beyondcygnus
Summary: (Song-fiction of Travelin' Soldier by the Dixie Chicks)Shadow stops for lunch at a cafe to have lunch and kill some time as he waits for his ride to an Army training camp. He makes a connection with the cafe waiter and they decide to keep in touch.The two exchange letters with each other until one day Violet stops receiving any.





	Travelin' Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> I would recommend listening to the song Travelin' Soldier by the Dixie Chicks before reading this!

{Two days past eighteen, he was waiting for the bus in his army green.   
Sat down in a booth at a café there, gave his order to a boy with pretty blonde hair.}

 

It was a nice summer afternoon as eighteen-year-old Shadow waited for the bus which would come and take him to an Army training camp in California. He looked up at the sky to see soft clouds floating by, knowing he wouldn't really be able to enjoy an afternoon like this again in quite some time. He noticed a café across the street and figured since he had time to kill he might as well go get something to eat besides the snacks he has his backpack. The young man gathered himself and looked left, right, and left again before crossing the street and entering the cafe. There was a chalkboard sign set up right where you walked in with "Please seat yourself!" in blue chalk. So Shadow did, seating himself and setting his backpack next to him in the booth then waited patiently for someone to come and collect his order. He already knew what he wanted anyway. After a few minutes, a boy with blonde hair walked over, introducing himself as “Violet,” and letting Shadow know that he would be his waiter.  
He gave him a nod, earning a smile from the blonde. Shadow couldn't help but smile back. He gave him his order and Violet set off to get it put in.

 

{He's a little shy so he gave’em a smile and he said ‘Would you mind sitting’ down for a while and talking to me, I'm feelin’ a little low.  
He said, ‘I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go.’}

When Violet returned with his order, a root beer and a basket of fries, Shadow thanked him before asking, “Would you mind sitting with me for a while?” He felt lonely and figured the waiter would be good company.   
Violet laughed softly, “I'm off in an hour if you mind waiting a bit, I know a nice place we could go for a while.” The other nodded with a shy grin, “I have time.” 

{So they went down and sat on a pier, he said ‘I bet you gotta girlfriend but I don't care, I got no one to send a letter to. Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?’}

Once Violet was off work he lead Shadow down the street to a pier, which faced out west. “Thank you, you know, since you just met me.” Shadow took his cap off, running a hand through short, shaggy hair.   
Vio shrugged, “It's the least I could do,” He said, sitting down on the pier and letting his legs hang over the water.  
The two talked for what felt like hours, they seemed to click and talked as if they were lifelong best friends. Shadow noticed the time, seeing the sun starting to set in front of them. “My bus will be here soon..” He sighed and got up, helping Violet as well. “Um, I was wondering. If I could have your address? I have no one to write to… so I was wondering if I could send some letters back to ya.” It was true, he had no one to write to and it would be nice to have someone possibly write him back.  
“Oh,” Violet thought for a moment, “Sure!”   
He smiled when he got the positive answer and Violet got a crumpled receipt from his pocket and a pen from the apron he was still wearing and wrote his address on it, handing it to the other. With gentle care, Shadow tucked the paper in a pocket on his backpack.

{So the letters came from an army camp in California then Vietnam, and he told him off his heart, it might be love and all of the things he’s so scared of. He says ‘When is getting kinda rough over here, I think of that day sitting down at the pier and I close my eyes and see your pretty smile. Don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while.’}

Violet had been received at least seven letters in total from Shadow, in return, he would write back and send care packages for him. He would fill the small box with sweets and a new pair of socks, toothpaste and other essentials he figured Shadow would need. He bought the things with what money he made from his job, buying most of it from the five and dime store so he would have some change left over so he could buy him extra candy. He did quite well at spoiling Shadow.  
He learned a lot about him from the few letters they had exchanged with each other. Violet knew he was a sucker for sweets and loved it when he would send him clippings of stories from the newspaper that week.  
It wasn't until one day he received a letter from Shadow, a rather short one, thanking him for the last care package and the extra sweets. At the end of the letter, he concluded telling Violet not to worry if he didn't get any more letters from him for a while.  
Of course, this concerned the teen but he tried not to worry as much as and only prayed that the soldier he cared for would be safe.

{One Friday night at a football game, the Lord’s prayer said and the Anthem sang a man said ‘Folks would you bow your head for the list of the local, Vietnam dead’.}

Violet held his breath, standing on the field with the rest of the school band, which he was happily a part of. After bowing his head he listened, fingers crossed that Shadow’s name wouldn’t be read. To his dismay, tears pricking his eyes, he heard it. The name was read aloud and Violetvwishedhe had heard wrong. But he hadn’t. When he finally breathed it came out as choked sobs, and he ran out of formation and off of the field.

{Crying all alone under the stands, was a piccolo player in the marching band and one name read, nobody really cared. But a boy, with pretty blonde hair}

{I cried, never gonna hold the hand of another guy, too young for love they told him, waiting for the love of a traveling soldier. Our love will never end, waiting for the soldier to come back again never more to be alone when the letter says: A soldier is coming home.}

 

Violet was sitting in the middle of the cemetery, a small potted lily being held in his hands as he stared at the grave in front of him.  
The grass was starting to grow on top of the soil that had been placed there almost a month before.  
He couldn't stop the tears from falling as he knelt beside the grave, placing the lily by the gravestone that had the name of a soldier that he loved engraved into it.  
The soldier he knew for such a short time before he left and went missing out in action, only to be found dead after weeks of search.  
The boy felt as if his heart had been shattered into a million pieces. He wished someone was there to pick up those pieces and put them together. He wished that person was Shadow.  
Violet sobbed, his hands covering his face. Why? Was all he could ask himself. Why, did he get to know someone that he had come to love so dearly, why did he have to go so soon?   
He wanted to scream, but he couldn't. Instead, he continued to cry. He did this for quite a while as it was near therapeutic for him to just let it all out.  
After a bit, he began to calm down and steady his breathing. He wiped away tears and felt like he had none left to cry.  
Violet closed his eyes, thinking back to when he met the soldier, the shaggy-haired boy.  
He was only eighteen but he wanted to go out and fight.  
He wanted to fight and protect his people.  
Because of his death, Violet was able to live as a free citizen.  
He wished he could thank him but, he’ll need to wait until his own time.  
Taking a deep breath he mumbled something quiet to himself, and the one in the grave.  
“I cried, never going to hold the hand of another guy. Too young for love they told him, waiting for the traveling soldier. Never more to be alone when the letter says: a soldier is coming home.”


End file.
